Happy Vernal Equinox! We have to spin a Spring fling track today for you to celebrate.
I Live In The Springtime was recorded at RCA studios on May 1, 1967 by six teens who called themselves The Lemon Drops. They all hailed from McHenry High School in the Eastern suburbs of Chicago. The band was comprised of 16-year old Danny Smola on vocals, 14-year old Eddie Weiss on guitar, 16-year old Gary Weiss on drums, 17-year old Jeff Brandt on bass, 16-year old George Sorrenson on lead guitar and Ricky Erickson (age unknown) on third guitar! Three guitars?
The song was written and produced by Roger (aka, Reggie) Weiss who formed the label to give his little brothers an outlet for their band. The first run of records was only 500 pressings. Upon receiving the disc, the pubescent teens realized that Gary's drums had been totally removed from the mix and much of the lead work was missing. None-the-less, local radio station WLS spun the record. The boys were able to scrape together enough money to press another 1000 copies. This time with the guitar and drums mixed back in. But they couldn't get any more money for more pressings. Thus, only 1500 copies made it into circulation.
My copy, shown above, is one of the first 500 pressed, sans drums. The music stream we sample for you, however, is from the superior second pressing. Enjoy your Spring Fling!
Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!
When I visited Mt. Garagemore last year I noticed this song up there.
ReplyDeleteI do believe it is tucked away in that lovely monument. In fact, I do believe that occasional FS visitor, Mike Mazz, has this front and center on his Mount Garagemore list. This is a wonderful mix of pop, folk, and the emerging harder fuzzed out rock. The lead work is almost out of place with the reserved instrumentation of the rest of the band. In fact, the lead is much more in line with what you would expect to hear out of Texas. Think Mouse and the Traps, Moving Sidewalks, Kempy and the Guardians, Kit and The Outlaws.
ReplyDeleteTo find out that this is a bunch of young kids makes it all that much better. And I dig the family band connection too.
I found my copy in a comic book/record store called Yesterdays Records in Davis California when I was about 15. It was run by my High School Psychology teacher. What was his name? I also picked up a copy of The Shadows of Knight's excellent 2nd album, Back Door Men at the same time. A Chicago connection?